This page contains resources, announcements, guest blogs, essays, videos, and other stuff. Come back often!

Brain to Text Technology?¿Tecnología de Cerebro a Texto?

By Communication FIRST | Sep 27, 2022
Attend this live webinar (with CART and ASL and Spanish interpretation) to learn from Board Member Pancho Ramirez and the University of California San Francisco neuroscientists about groundbreaking technology to reduce communication barriers for people with speech disabilities

(Leer en español abajo) In this open-captioned, ASL-interpreted webinar, which originally aired live on October 19, 2022, you’ll hear from CommunicationFIRST Board Member Pancho Ramirez about his personal journey becoming paralyzed and losing the ability to speak at age 20, and his pioneering role in a clinical trial that is developing…
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How Do You Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?

By Communication FIRST | Sep 26, 2022
Text that reads “Let’s make this Hispanic Heritage Month impactful, and help our people with communication impairments to have the communication tools necessary to make big things, and contribute to our community! Pancho Ramirez full time AAC user.” Blue and white background. A set of black and green quotation marks are above the text. CommunicationFIRST logo is below the text

Leer en español How we Communicate our Culture September 15 through October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long celebration to recognize and honor the diverse cultures, histories, and experiences of Hispanic Americans in the United States. (The terms Hispanic and Latinx are not entirely interchangeable, but some…
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¿Cómo Celebras el Mes de la Herencia Hispana?

By Communication FIRST | Sep 26, 2022
Texto que dice “¡Hagamos que este Mes de la Herencia Hispana sea impactante y ayudemos a nuestra gente con problemas de comunicación a tener las herramientas de comunicación necesarias para hacer grandes cosas y contribuir a nuestra comunidad! Pancho Ramírez usuario de CAA tiempo completo.” Fondo azul y blanco. Sobre el texto hay un conjunto de comillas negras y verdes. El logotipo de CommunicationFIRST está debajo del texto

Read in English Como Comunicamos Nuestra Cultura Del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre es el Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana, una celebración de un mes para reconocer y honrar las diversas culturas, historias y experiencias de los hispanoamericanos en los Estados Unidos. (Los términos hispano y…
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We Are Growing! ¡Estamos creciendo!

By Communication FIRST | Aug 4, 2022
abstract stock photo of fireworks and lights

Leer en español Please join us in welcoming our new Chair and Program Associates We are pleased to announce that, effective August 1, 2022, Jordyn Zimmerman, MEd (she/her), is the new Chair of CommunicationFIRST’s Board of Directors. We thank India Ochs, JD, MPA (she/her), for her critical leadership during…
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What Does Gender Have To Do with Presuming Competence?

By Communication FIRST | Jun 30, 2022
screenshot of a page of an augmentative communication device showing words like nonbinary, genderfluid, identity, orientation, genderqueer, LGBTQ, queer, pride, trans, intersex, cis, gendervague, two-spirit, cishet, questioning, pansexual, asexual, gay, demisexual, lesbian, aromantic, heterosexual, demiromantic, straight, aspec

Guest Blog by Tuttleturtle I am an AAC user. I am also queer and trans. My AAC is part of my gender presentation. I have also never seen an AAC system represent someone like me. Even so, I’m a privileged AAC user. I’ve had access to education that taught…
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We are hiring!

By Communication FIRST | Jun 3, 2022
view from above of nine pairs of hands, each holding a different kind of tablet, phone, or laptop with forearms resting on a wooden table

Thanks to a generous two-year grant from the Ford Foundation, we are looking to expand our team and advance our mission to achieve transformative change for people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood! Please see the job advertisement here: https://communicationfirst.org/job-openings/. People of color, AAC…
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AAC Counts! How many strong are we?

By Communication FIRST | May 28, 2022
one hand holding a pen placed on a number chart, the other hand on a calculator

Did you know that federal and state governments in the United States do not regularly count people with speech disabilities, even though they count people with the other two main types of communication disabilities — hearing and vision? It is very difficult to design and measure the success of…
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School Shootings Easy-Read Resource (Updated)

By Communication FIRST | May 27, 2022
The Nora Project: What Are School Shootings, How Do They Make Us Feel, and What Can We Do About Them? K-12 Easy-Read. Logos of CommunicationFIRST and Teaching is Intellectual and Autistic Self Advocacy Network

We are devastated that there is a need for such a resource, but CommunicationFIRST is humbled to partner with The Nora Project, Teaching is Intellectual, and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in the creation and sharing of this free, K-12 easy-read resource on school shootings: English version / Spanish…
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